He lowered his head towards me, a cocky grin spreading across his lips as he raked his eyes across my body before landing them back on mine.
I clicked my tongue in annoyance before averting my eyes, ignoring the blush that threatened to run across...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN WHAT IS LOVE?
GIFT SHOPPING WAS HARDER THAN IT LOOKED LIKE.
Especially with a sister like Maëlis who was especially picky with anything she didn't like. Last year I'd gotten her a pair of earrings customized to spell out her name. Another was a framed picture of our mother holding just her; however rare it was to find a baby picture of her alone, one without the ghost of her sister clinging to her, hidden away in the attic I had found one for her.
It was tradition. Celebrating Lily's birthday as three—Eli, her, and myself, alone with no one but Alice and Baumann there to watch us—and then driving to Rose's grave, all of us each placing down a gift for her. It was hard. Watching one twin as the other laid dead, cold underneath the ground. Forever cursed to stay the same age. Time passed and only two out of three of my siblings grew. Only two aged. Only two survived.
I had nothing of my own to give them. Love—but what was love good for? When it was love that got people killed. How could I love them when I didn't know how it felt to feel love? The last time I felt at home, comfortable with where I was, was when I was nine. Like a curse, anything I loved died. It withered like a flower, petals falling to the ground like the pieces of my heart.
It was the people close to me that got hurt.
People like Mara.
I don't know what it was, what caused me to stare frozen in horror as a fiery halo of hair called for my attention. As Azalea Jones screamed my name, blue eyes glinting with want as she trailed her eyes down my body like a woman possessed. It was uncomfortable, standing there, confused and so, so tired.
Until I heard Mara's voice screaming our team name, louder than anyone else. My eyes easily found her, mind no longer blank as she caught my eyes; a statue of light in a world so dark. I almost didn't know what to do with myself, the only reasonable answer being to smile.
And so I did.
She smiled back, brown eyes alight with happiness, almost proud. Maybe she was. Proud of herself for dragging me out of the pathetic pile of grades I'd dug myself into. Like a beacon of light, she stood out from the rest.
So why did Azalea have to ruin it?
Why did she have to claw her way back into my life, grubby hands taking away any source of happiness. Spreading rumors—making herself out to be something she was not, making us something we were not. Something we hadn't been for a long time.
"Look Theo, isn't this teddy bear cute?" Mara asked, showcasing a large brown teddy bear, fur fluffing around it. She smothered her hand in its fabric, waving her hand around before turning to me with a brilliant smile.
Everytime she smiled, I felt a piece of myself melt, a piece of my throat struggling to breathe. To talk. As if with every tip of her lips she was punching my esophagus, repeatedly.
